Allentown Firemen Flush Sewer Lines Police

January 15, 1986|The Morning Call

Allentown Fire Department personnel spent one and one-half hours flushing sewer lines in the East Side of the city Monday evening after a passerby reported strong fumes near a manhole at about 5:06 p.m.

Deputy Chief Claude Kohl said someone apparently disposed of a large quantity of an unidentified flammable solvent in the area, and the department's detector picked up a strong concentration of hydrocarbons.

The manhole was located at E. Congress and Gilmore streets.

Kohl said several thousand gallons of water were used to bring down the concentration of the solvent. 'We were concerned with it getting into houses and apartments," he said, and added that an explosion could have occurred if the fumes were ignited.